Convoy Introduces Power-Only Program and Universal Trailer Pool

Two years ago we announced a new power only loads program that would unlock business opportunities for small carriers and owner-operators, helping them access more loads and spend more time with their trucks full.

Interested in hauling with Convoy? Get set-up with a carriers‘ portal, or read more on our carrier packet page to learn more about our load board app, TruckYeah Discounts, factoring and fuel card programs. 

A major challenge faced by the freight industry is a shortage of drivers and a limited number of trucks available to service shipments. An aging driver base, paired with new regulations limiting hours of service, have created one of the most challenging freight environments in decades.

In response to this, America’s largest shippers often require trucking companies to drop extra trailers at their distribution centers to pre-load before a driver arrives. With the drop system, these shippers exclusively use larger trucking companies who have a surplus of trailers available.

As a result, these shipments are not available to the nearly 90% of U.S. trucks that are owned by small trucking companies. These companies do not have a surplus of trailers, which means that they miss out on the majority of freight from these major shippers. 

To solve this, Convoy launched a Power-only and Universal Trailer Pool solution, which is available to thousands of small carriers who use the Convoy app. With Convoy’s new program, small carriers are able to bring in their power unit and haul Convoy’s pre-loaded dry van trailers. This gives them access to billions of dollars in new shipments and saves time waiting — so carriers can start earning more.

“We save a lot of hours getting loaded or unloaded at facilities with power only shipments. There are benefits of not using your own equipment as well. When you own your own trailer, you have to pay up to $2,000 per year to maintain it. With power only, I don’t have to spend as much money or time having my own equipment serviced and replacing worn tires.” – Eliza Cruz, a Sacramento, California-based carrier.

“What I love is power only shipments. Not only does this save me and my drivers time by solely hooking up to trailers and moving them to where they need to go, we can also get a lot done this way in our 10 hours.” – Baldeep Singh, a Turlock, California-based carrier

“Power-Only with Convoy makes it easy to get loads I’ve never had before, and saves me time loading and unloading at facilities.”   –Jose Martinez Trucking

Convoy’s Universal Trailer Pool creates a seamless “grab and go” system, where carriers simply bring their power unit, pick up a pre-loaded trailer, and hit the road.

Convoy offers power-only shipments and Universal Trailer Pool with shippers nationwide . By removing trailer loading and unloading dwell times for carriers at facilities, Convoy power only loads take an average of 6 hours less per load to complete than traditional live loads to and from the same facilities. Carriers who haul power only loads in Convoy’s network 30% of the time can generate up to $19,000 more revenue per truck per year by increasing the number of loads they are able to haul. Plus, by hauling Convoy’s trailers that carriers themselves don’t need to pay to maintain, carriers can reduce their trailer overhead expenses by over $1,000 per year.

Every week, there are thousands of power only loads available to carriers who can bid on and book them directly in the Convoy mobile app, alongside live loads and dedicated freight opportunities. Additionally, by taking advantage of Convoy’s TruckYeah Savings program, carriers can save over $35,000 on their biggest expenses, like fuel, equipment, factoring and preventive maintenance.